As the ebony blanket throw itself across the sky a dark tabby shape raced through the forest, almost invisible to even the keenest eye. Behind him a small group of cats followed in complete silence. LunarClan may be hostile towards them at the moment, but they still have a Gathering to attend, and he plans to show up. If Badgerstar decided not to bring her Clan… Well, that would be her decision, and he wasn't going to mess with it or her.
His dark pelt glowed silver under the full moon, as he reached the place of gathering. Talonstar climbs up onto the Great Rock while the members of SolarClan file into the clearing below, murmuring quietly. Frostnight pads to sit below him, at the base of the rock, taking up her deputy position.
He sits there for a few moments, shuffling his paws. Will she come?
He turns his head at the sound of light paw falls. Sure enough, there was Badgerstar. She appeared to be a bit irritated, but then again, she always was. She quickly climbs up Great Rock, muttering things as Foxfur goes to her spot, a few tail-lengths from Frostnight. The deputies say nothing, but exchange tight head nods. Badgerstar gives him a cold look. "Well, you better get this Gathering started, we don't have all night."
Talonstar gives her a quick nod before looking out at the other cats. He clears his throat before he begins to speak. "All is well in SolarClan. Nothing new to share," he says, glancing at the LunarClan cats. "Though, I have had reports of LunarClan scent in the Meadow."
A throng of yowls broke out in the clearing, as cats from LunarClan turned against cats from SolarClan.
Badgerstar looks over at Talonstar, her blue eyes icy. "Are you accusing me of something?" she demands, her voice tight with anger. At this, her cats go quiet again, looking up at their leader for a sign. To attack or not.
"I am accusing you of nothing," he replies, keeping his tone flat. "I am simply trying to confirm what I was told. Are you denying this information?" His green gaze stares her down.
"Of course, I am denying it!" Badgerstar yowls, looking like she's going to spring on Talonstar at any moment.
"Then, are you calling my warriors liars?" Talonstar questions, the hint of accusation now creeping into his tone. Again, yowls break out below, this time from the SolarClan cats, hissing their defiance at the leader.
"No." The brown she-cat responds, looking at him with a knowing smile. "Maybe they're just mouse-brained," she scoffs, her eyes turning to SolarClan. "They sure look it."
Talonstar now turns his whole body to face Badgerstar, his eyes narrowed. "I will not have my warriors be called such things," he says, his voice low as he struggles for control of it. Somehow, this quiet tone is more terrifying and threatening than if he had burst into yowls.
"You're warriors are accusing mine of things!" she spits, her claws coming unsheathed as she faces the other leader. The air is tense, coiled. The fragile moment could break any second and send everyone into a frenzy of fighting. It all rested between the two leaders, who were face to face, not even a mouse-length apart.
"Do not let your claws out unless you intend to use them, Badgerstar," Talonstar says, the cool, calm sound flooding back into his voice. "Let us not fight at a Gathering, a night of peace. I will not have blood shed on StarClan's grounds."
A smirk curls the she-cat's lips. "And what makes you think I won't use them?"
"Not tonight, I don't think you would," he replies, his voice softer. "Let the fighting wait for another time. Do not break the night of truce."
Badgerstar narrows her eyes. "Yes, a night of truce, not a time when we accuse each other." She stiffly turns to face the cats. "LunarClan have reinforced their barriers and we have plenty new warriors, along with two more apprentices and kits on the way. We are stronger than ever." She snaps her head to give Talonstar a cold stare with her blue eyes.
Talonstar ignores her as he turns himself, her glare not fazing him in the least. He was a solid cat, not easily shaken, especially by something like this small argument.
Seeing no one has anything else to say, Badgerstar turns away. "I draw this Gathering to an end!" She pads to Talonstar, hissing in a whisper, "Be prepared for tomorrow." She then darts to the other side of Great Rock and leaps off. "Let's go, LunarClan!"
Her warriors gather together to get ready to leave, and Talonstar heaves a sigh. Must they fight so much? He pads to the edge of the rock, climbing down its side and hopping to the ground. His warriors, all grim-faced, come over.
No one says a word, but no one has to. Without being told, they all know of the horrible thing coming, the fight. He nods to them all, padding out of the small clearing.
Once again, the Clan makes the journey through the silvery forest. Now, their silence is heavy, bearing down on them harshly. No, the silence before had been peaceful. This one is filled with tension, fear, anxiety, worry. Too many things that Talonstar doesn't want to deal with. But he keeps these feelings locked up inside and keeps pressing on, holding together for the sake of his Clan.
Without a word, each cat breaks off from the group as they enter camp, heading to their separate dens to settle down and sleep. Talonstar spots Ashtail laying at the edge of camp, keeping watch for them. He gives him a nod, the signal for him to rest. They're home, and the camp is safe for now – well, he hopes. Nothing is like it used to be. Not that "used to be" was peaceful for very long.
His mind is too clouded for him to think straight. He shakes his head vigorously, trying to scatter the thoughts, rid his head of them. Of course, he cannot, but he manages to push through and focus on his current task – get to his den and, hopefully, fall asleep. Just leave all the worries of the day behind him as he slips off to the tranquil world of dreams. Well, he could hope for a good dream. His dreams usually didn't comfort him anymore.
As he's about to enter his den, he hears a soft voice behind him.
"We need to talk." As he turns around, he spots the blue-green eyes of Cloverwish, illuminated in the darkness. He stifles a sigh. This night was going to be much longer than he thought.
Her eyes flashed in the darkness, the anger evident there. Talonstar let out a sigh.
Cloverwish entered the leader's den, without permission, however that wasn't news. The medicine cat paced the small area, her tabby tail swishing angrily. "Starclan have not sent me a sign, Talonstar!"
Talonstar sat across from Cloverwish, draping his tail across his paws. "Calm, Cloverwish," he says, trying to reassure the medicine cat. "Starclan will tell us when they are ready."
Cloverwish stops pacing and looks up at her leader. Her eyes seemed ready to agree with him, but he knew she was not. She was lucky. Being a medicine cat she can argue with the leader and get away with it. "Badgerstar nearly attacked you and Starclan didn't do anything about it! It's not right..."
The tabby leader sighs, shaking his head. "It's not Starclan's place to control our daily lives," he says softly, watching the she-cat. "They can only watch over us and advise us when they feel we truly need it." His green eyes are gentle. "They must not feel like we truly need it yet. Patience, Cloverwish. Only time can tell."
The medicine cat stops in her tracks, sighing. "I know, I just wish they would tell me sometimes."
"We all wish to be told things," Talonstar says, looking off into space.
The tabby white she-cat nods. "I know. But I didn't think the battle would be coming so soon."
The large tom sighs. "We just have to take what comes to us."
The medicine cat shakes her head, heavily. "Whatever you say, Talonstar."
"Do not lose faith."
Cloverwish's head drops, remembering how her old clan had been slaughtered. And they had taken her young brother with them. "How can I have faith when Starclan always disappears in the darkest of times?"
Talonstar tries to keep calm, and cool. Cloverwish can tell, no matter how hard he tried to hide it from everyone else. "Maybe we need to pull ourselves through those times."
"Maybe Starclan can tell us more than what they do, instead of tearing clans apart."
"We tear each other apart." Cloverwish could not believe her ears, and her blue-green eyes flash angrily once more.
"We do not tear ourselves apart! Sometimes cats from nowhere attack your clan and kill all for pleasure!" She sighed and took a small step back as she realized for the first time that she had revealed her past to the leader, to anyone.
Talonstar's gaze is still gentle. He could relate, and she knew. "And that's my point exactly, Cloverwish." His tone remains very quiet. "That has nothing to do with Starclan."
Cloverwish scoffed. "Right, and they couldn't have warned me sooner?" She turned away, as the horrible memories flashed through her head again.
Talonstar rested his tail on her shoulder. "They could've done a lot of things. But they didn't. Sometimes, we just have to rely on ourselves." His gaze and voice remain quiet and gentle, but he was getting tired, restless.
Cloverwish shakes her head. "If we are to rely on ourselves, we wouldn't be a clan would we?"
"But we can't always look to the stars. Sometimes, all you can do is look in front of you." Talonstar sighs, this conversation felt like it was going in circles. "Starclan can't help us with everything."
Cloverwish looks back up at him, the tears stained in her fur. "How are we supposed to have faith then? What if it isn't even Starclan we are hearing? What if it is just another dream?"
"That is when we have to believe." Talonstar looks off into space, his eyes sad.
Cloverwish unsheathes her claws clawing at the rock angrily. "Yes, let us rely on the old souls that will not do anything for us."
Talonstar's green eyes harden, looking at her. "Then try."
Cloverwish hisses, losing her patience. "If they try so hard then why is everything they say another puzzle?" Why did this cat have to be so hard-headed? Then again, she was acting the same way.
"I don't know, Cloverwish!" Talonstar exclaims. Why did he have to know everything? Why did all the questions come to him? His claws rake along the stone floor, starting to crack, but he couldn't care less. He takes in a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself before he exploded again.
Cloverwish blinks, slightly surprised. "You're supposed to be the leader." She reminds him, as if reading his mind. "You have the nine lives of Starclan."
Talonstar closes his eyes. Snowstar had always been calm, never exploded. How had she handled it all? "I know, but I don't always have all the answers." He feels pathetic. He should have all the answers. He is the leader. But no matter how much he should, he doesn't.
Cloverwish blink sympathetically. "I know. I shouldn't have gotten angry with you. But I've been through so much. And I'm sure you have as well..."
Talonstar sighs. "No, it's my responsibility to deal with it. I took the job of being leader; I need to act like one."
The white tabby she-cat shrugs. "I understand. I could try not to argue with you though." She sighed, padding out of his den and into her own cozy moss nest. It was lined with clovers, her own personal touch. Something she had done in her previous life, she hoped she didn't anger the tom too much and that he would get the sleep he needs.
"Summerpaw..? Shouldn't we head back to camp?" The storm grey apprentice followed Summerpaw as she padded away from the gathering.
"I need to think." She said simply with a flick of her tail. Stormpaw let out a sigh.
"What if Lunarclan decide to attack now? It wouldn't be the first time they've tried to do something sneaky."
The golden apprentice turned to face Stormpaw. "I need to blow off some fumes, okay? I don't like being called a mouse-brain in front of all the clans!"
"She called everyone a mouse-brain, Summerpaw. Besides, you're nowhere near mouse-brained."
Summerpaw's green eyes sparkled in the moonlight, gleaming at the compliment. "Really?"
Stormpaw nodded and Summerpaw, being her average crazy self, took off running. The grey apprentice rolled his eyes and ran after her. He could hear the she-cat giggling ahead of him, and he couldn't help himself but smiling.
Above them the full moon shined brightly, all the stars in the sky shining as they did on the night of a gathering. A light wind tugged at the branches, rustling the leaves around them. Stormpaw took in deep breath, inhaling the moment. For once he felt as light as a feather. Though there was a battle coming up in the near future, he had forgotten it. Tonight was tonight, and if it were his last he would enjoy it.
But of course, great things don't last too long.
In the distance he could make out Summerpaw's tabby pelt cowering away from a great grey cat. Stormpaw growled as he skidded to a halt behind his friend.
"This is Lunarclan territory now!" The tom hissed and leapt toward Summerpaw.
The golden she-cat stood there frozen to the ground her green eyes wide with shock.
"Summerpaw!" He hissed jumping toward the she-cat and knocking her out of harm's way.
He grunted as the warrior landed on top of him, sinking his sharp claws into his skin. He heard Summerpaw stumbling on the ground beside him, and hoped that she had some sense to run and get help.
"You should let her fight her own battles." The tom growled sinking his claws deeper into his pelt. Stormpaw let out a yowl of pain and turned his head to face Summerpaw. "Go!"
Her eyes were still wide with shock and it took her a few heartbeats to get to her paws and scramble away.
The grey tom looked back at the warrior on top of him. He had a smirk on his face, making him look scarier. But he wouldn't let that get to him, he would fight.
Unsheathing his claws, Stormpaw let his hind paws claw at the tom's belly. He let out a hiss of frustration and lashed out a paw, hitting him in the face.
By now Stormpaw could feel the blood oozing from his shoulders and his cheek. If this cat wanted to kill him then why do it like this?
A yowl from the distance made the warrior look up, and his eyes widened as a tabby bundle of fur flew towards him, knocking him off of Stormpaw.
"Pick on someone your own size!"
Stormpaw let out a sigh of relief and let his eyes close shut. In the background he heard hissing and snarling and paw-steps fleeing rapidly away.
It felt like moons until he finally heard the paw-steps returning and the deep breaths of one of his clan mates.
He felt a muzzle push into his neck. It was soft and warm. He felt like he was back home in the nursery after a long nap.
"I'm sorry…" She whispered and began licking the blood away from his cheek. He opened his eyes to see Summerpaw. And he was utterly shocked. How had she come back and defeated the brutal Lunarclan warrior? Maybe he was just dreaming…
Her green eyes looked into his. He had never seen her look like that before. Something was there that wasn't before.
"Why did you do that for me?" He was shocked to hear her ask that. He winced as she bent down to lick the wounds on his shoulder, her stripped ears pricked up for an answer.
"I couldn't watch you die. Not again." This time she winced. Stormpaw sighed and let his head fall to the other side.
"Thanks." She said as she continued licking his wounds.
"H-how did you escape?" He asked, turning back to face the she-cat as she looked up at him.
"I just ran away. The thing I do best." Stormpaw frowned. She was best at everything as far as he was concerned.
"But how?"
"I ran into another warrior and they started fighting…It was strange."
Stormpaw nodded closing his blue eyes. Summerpaw nudged him in the side. "We should go back to camp."
Letting out a sigh, the grey apprentice allowed the she-cat to help him to his paws. She seemed different nowadays. And he longed for the old Summerpaw. The crazy she-cat who he would always get in trouble with. He wished everything could be back to the ways they were before…Before Talonstar had went to Lunarclan and Summerpaw nearly drowned in the river. Why couldn't life just be normal?
"…Stormpaw." He looked at the she-cat. He had missed what she had said while he was thinking to himself, so he just gave her a smile and touched his nose to her cheek.